Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Distorted Duty

Chapter Three

All I could do was stare up at the Zoroark who was holding my head steady and let my thoughts roll around in my head while I processed things. The most glaring issue was my error in perception. My putting myself in my own illusion. I may be both semi new to this and a partial amnesiac, but I can at least still make inferences. My caretaker was confused and concerned and I was the only other illusionist here to my knowledge.

First the Pokémon hospital place. That had to be real, or at least most of it. The car ride for sure was real. Maybe not what the car looked like. That may have been messed with. If Rhia was driving it so effectively it was probably modeled differently than whatever it was I saw. So on and so forth. Me going over events in my mind must have been written in whatever expression I was making because Rhia's expression relaxed a bit. Most likely under the impression what she did actually helped me through my blunder.

Eventually I was coaxed into moving somewhere to actually eat what Rhia had prepared for me. A place in the corner of the tiled area near the kitchen that was made into a makeshift dining area to make it easier given my state. It didn't change how distracted I was but I did eat regardless at least. I didn't really pay attention to what was given to me, but it was definitely more appealing than hospital patient food. Even if the food provided there wasn't bad, it was still clinical in nature.

After eating what I was given I simply went back to the corner of the living room that I found most comfortable and out of the way. This behavior of mine definitely seemed to concern Rhia from the few times I looked over at her, though she chose to continue giving me space thankfully. Though she did turn the solitary television on at some point deciding not to leave me alone in silence. A habit which continued and became a routine.

As time passed, a form of routine came about. The meals that counted as breakfast and dinner tended to occur before sunrise and after sunset. Lunchtime happened sometimes, when it did it would be at a random point during daylight hours. Eventually I fell into a schedule I noticed Rhia was accustomed to, being that she was active a lot at night and slept inconsistently during the day. Oftentimes I would convey that I would want to go outdoors, times during which I would either get exercise or just enjoy being outside in general. When I was inside I was observing Rhia, resting, or watching whatever would be on the television when she would decide to turn it on.

The programs that would be shown were sometimes interesting. Anything between low budget cartoons and what I assume were older television shows. Though the single news channel did catch my attention. A broadcast Rhia had noticed I took interest in. Though she probably didn't realize I wasn't interested during the full runtime. What really caught my attention were segments that talked about something related to guilds and exploration/investigation teams. The two terms were swapped around seemingly in an arbitrary manner but it seemed like they were pretty much the same thing anyway so I didn't worry about it too much.

It became so habitual for me to watch this News channel that it always seemed to be on whenever it would be airing while Rhia was awake and at home. She mentioned a job at some point, however given the time she stayed home it was most likely something to stay busy rather than a necessity. At some point my behavior did eventually start to concern her after the new environment excuse ran its course, probably because of how playful and mischievous Zorua tend to be. The other problem was my body. Roughly a couple months into my stay, I had some dream I couldn't remember no matter how much I thought about it. It felt ominous and a bit relaxing somehow but that was overshadowed by a small growth spurt I had over the span of a few weeks. By the time I stopped growing as abruptly as I started, I was very noticeably larger than your average Zorua but not ridiculously so. It seemed to take Rhia's attention in some way for a while, but I didn't think about it too long given everything else going on.